


Nap Buddies

by hybryd0



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Gen, possibly pre-slash if you want to look at it that way, stupid amount of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-05
Updated: 2014-04-05
Packaged: 2018-01-18 07:24:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1419524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hybryd0/pseuds/hybryd0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It starts with one couch during a break in rehearsals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nap Buddies

**Author's Note:**

> written for [these tags](http://becomewords.tumblr.com/post/79202116646). Hopefully if it gets back to her then she likes it. Also not beta’d or britpicked because it’s just too small to bother anyone for it.

It’s been a long day of rehearsals and Niall is just shattered and they’re not even done, just being graciously allowed to take a break. Liam and Louis laugh and shove each other as they disappear off for a kickabout and Harry already has his phone out texting someone (judging by the smirk on his face Niall is guessing it’s Gemma, Harry has a particular look about him when he’s playing the little brother role). Niall’s knee aches a little too much for playing footie and as tempting as it is to mess with Harry while he’s trying to text his sister Niall just really feels like collapsing somewhere and catching a quick nap.

He limps his way into the back room where they have a couch for just this occasion and stops, a fond grin on his face at the familiar sight of Zayn sprawled out. He looks so soft and warm curled up under the throw and it’s just so inviting that Niall really can’t be blamed for wanting to join him. He carefully lifts the edge of the throw and snuggles himself down, throwing an arm around Zayn’s waist and smiles as Zayn snuffles softly in his sleep but doesn’t wake up.

He’s asleep before he even realizes it and doesn’t wake up again until he feels light touches to his shoulder and Liam telling him they need to get up in that soft, sweet voice he has when the last thing he actually wants to do is wake them up. Niall waves him away and light spills in from the hallway briefly as Liam leaves before the blessed darkness returns. He wants to bury himself back in the familiarity of Zayn’s warmth and sleep for a million years, but they have work to do and if they don’t get up Liam will just come back in, maybe with Louis in tow and that’s just not really a pleasant thought.

Niall grins to himself and shifts just the slightest bit to nuzzle his face into the sleep hot skin of Zayn’s neck. For just a moment he breathes in the almost unpleasant, but familiar as home smell of sweaty, hard working boy before he starts to snuffle and snort. Zayn groans and tries to tuck further away from him, but Niall just follows, using his superior weight to half pin Zayn against the back of the couch.

“Alright, alright,” Zayn finally says laughingly, trying to struggle in vain to get away. “I’m awake, I’ll get up. You’re worse than a puppy I swear.”

Niall plants a sloppy, wet kiss against the scratchy underside of Zayn’s jaw before rolling away from him. He’s careful getting to his feet, but his knee doesn’t ache anymore and he feels amazingly well rested for what couldn’t have been more than a fifteen minute nap. Zayn must be feeling the same way as he’s not nearly as grumpy about being woken up as he can be.

“Better than Tommo dumping water on ya, yeah?” Niall straightens out his shirt before offering his hand to Zayn, who takes it with a grin and allows Niall to help him up.

The next time it happens is on the long flight to the first show of the tour in Bogota. They’re passed the point of being excited on the flights, after almost four years it’s just become another thing. Once they get closer to landing the excitement of going someplace new will hit them, but for now they’re all falling into their normal flight rituals.

Zayn is already conked out and Niall keeps almost following in his footsteps, but for whatever reason he’s been seated between Liam and Louis who keep talking past him. It’s probably Paul’s hope to keep the peace by separating the two instigators of most of the trouble nowadays but every time Louis leans around him to try and get closer to Liam, Niall feels a little bit more like he wants to strangle them both. Finally he he shoots to his feet and turns to glare down at Liam.

“Trade me,” he demands.

Liam’s grin says it all and he ruffles Niall’s hair as they scoot past each other. Niall swats at him half heartedly before a hand wraps around his wrist and pulls him down. Niall can’t help the little squeak of surprise and Zayn huffs a laugh against the back of his neck as he arranges them so that they fit together as comfortably as possible. Zayn presses a soft kiss to the nape of his neck and mumbles for him to go to sleep.

It becomes a thing after that. Any free time between interviews or the time that Niall used to spend nervously working himself up for the show is now spent curled up with Zayn on the most comfortable surface they can find. Niall can’t even remember the last time he napped alone and it’s becomes a bit of a band joke.

“Instead of fuck buddies you’re nap buddies, isn’t that just the cutest,” Louis ribs them one while they’re all in Zayn’s room drinking to another successful show.

Zayn pokes him in the side. “You’re just jealous ‘cause you don’t have a Niall to nap with.”

“Liam and Harry will be my nap buddies, won’t you?” Louis asks with imploring looks to the both of them.

“Sure Lou,” Liam says easy as anything, always willing to go along with Louis. Harry nods along in agreement, but Zayn just tuts at them.

“Yeah, but you still don’t have a Niall, the best nap buddy ever,” Zayn says, curling his arm around Niall to pull him in closer against his side. Niall flushes at the praise and snuggles in against Zayn’s side, his grin wide enough to make his face ache.

That night though Niall tosses and turns and when he does fall asleep he dreams that something is missing. His dreamself can’t figure out what it is and he spends the whole dream searching for something that feels almost intangible. 

“You look like death warmed over, bro,” Liam says when Niall stumbles onto the bus, dragging his bags with him like they weigh more than he can bare. “You didn’t drink that much last night.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Niall grumbles and heads straight for his bunk, but stops when he sees that Zayn is sprawled out on the couch in the back. Without a second thought he heads for him, burrows his head under Zayn’s chin and sighs when Zayn wakes up just enough to wrap his arms around him and pull him in closer.

The trend continues for the next couple of weeks. He sleeps fitfully at best during the night and finds time to nap with Zayn during the day. Louis has started to call him Grouchy Smurf in the mornings, which really does nothing to help his mood. It doesn’t even click in his head when Liam starts to just tell him where Zayn is napping.

Niall is tossing and turning in bed with sleep eluding him, just out of his reach. It’s a nice bed in a nice hotel room and he can’t remember when that’s ever not been enough for him to be able to fall asleep, but he can’t. Something is just missing and it’s none of the things he’s tried.

He’s staring at the ceiling contemplating trying that stupid counting sheep crap he’s heard about when there’s a sudden banging on his door. It’s well past being too late for someone to be making that much racket without waking up whoever is in the rooms beside him (hell if he knows who that is).

“Probably Tommo, the wanker,” Niall grumbles to himself, “got some lyric he wants to share. Well, I’ll tell ‘im where he can put that.”

He doesn’t bother turning on a light, but ends up paying the price by stubbing his toe on no less that two things on his way to the door. He’s rather thinking he’s going to give Louis’s too long hair a vicious pull for the visit at such an ungodly hour, but when he opens the door it’s not Louis at all.

“Dunno what you did to me, Horan,” Zayn grumbles. He’s only in his sleep pants and his mussed hair and bags under his eyes tell the same story that must be written all over Niall’s face.

Before Niall can ask what that’s supposed to mean Zayn pushes him backwards into the room, shutting and locking the door behind him, before tugging Niall over to the bed. Neither of them says another word, they don’t have to. The moment Niall curls into Zayn’s arms, head on his chest and their legs tangled, something clicks into place, like finding the right key for a lock, and he can’t help the relieved sigh that comes from deep within.

“Why haven’t we been doing this all along?” Niall says sleepily.

“Shhh, sleep now,” is Zayn’s only reply.

Niall smiles into Zayn’s skin, presses as soft kiss there. Yeah, he could do that.


End file.
